Pat Leach scored the crucial try as the Dragons battled to a much-needed victory over Connacht at Rodney Parade.

Dan Parks opened the scoring for the visitors but from there it was one way traffic as the Dragons controlled affairs.

Tom Prydie kept the scoreboard ticking either side of Pat Leach’s crucial try in the closing stages of the first-half

The Dragons and Darren Edwards went into the clash amid increasing pressure following their worst losing sequence since their inception,

Edwards’ men had crashed to seven consecutive defeats and were in desperate need of a victory if they were to maintain any hope of leap-frogging Cardiff Blues to clinch a Heineken Cup spot.

They were impressive in their defeat to Northampton Saints last Sunday and despite having a turnaround of just five-days they produced another committed performance, which this time was enough to seal the win,

Former Cardiff blues pivot Dan Parks booted Connacht into an early lead at the Liberty Stadium but that was the only action in a error-strewn opening quarter.

Both sides failed to deal with the difficult conditions in rain-soaked Newport and were undone by unforced mistakes.

But Will Harries sparked to encounter into some sort of life with a thunderous hit on Robbie Henshaw. It put the Irish province on the back foot and Jason Harris-Wright was sent to the sin-bin as they scrambled to maintain possession.

Tom Prydie stepped up and duly slotted the simple penalty but minutes later he failed to nudge the Dragons into the lead after Connacht were reduced to 13-men – with Andrew Browne shown yellow for stamping.

But the hosts laid siege to the Connacht twenty-two and the pressure eventually told as Leach slid over in the left hand corner to capitalise on the numerical advantage.

Prydie was agonisingly off-target with the touchline conversion but the try propelled the Dragons into an 8-3 half-time lead.

The Dragons made a quick start to the second half and immediately put Connacht under pressure. Prydie fired over a pair of penalties to ease the Dragons into a 14-3 advantage.

Connacht responded with plenty of fight and launched a sustained period of pressure but the Dragons weathered the storm and Dan Evans cleared their lines.

The Irish province continued to test the Dragons but the under-fire Gwent region continually came up with the right answers as they maintained control.

They were dealt a blow when Lewis Evans was sent to the sin-bin midway through the second-half.

But despite Connacht rallying at the death they held on to claim an eagerly awaited victory